Process of making linoleum products.



PATENTED MAY 26, 1903.

L. W. SEESER. PROCESSOP MAKING LINOLEUM PRODUCTS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 7, 1902.

MUNITEID STATES Patented May 26, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

PROCESS OF MAKING LINOLEUNi PRODUCTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part. of Letters Iiatent No. 728,997, dated. May26, 1903.

Application filed October 7, 1902. Serial No. 126,339. (No specimenal Toall whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUDWIG WILHELM SEE- SER, a subject of the Grand Dukeof Oldenburg, and a resident of Delmenhorst, in the Grand Dukedom ofOldenburg, German Ernpire, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Processes of Making Linoleum Products, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

Thisinvention relates to processes for making linoleum or the like whichallow of the use of a lighter foundation material than was hithertopossible, and thus efiect a great saving in the manufacture of linoleum.The foundation material is, as is well known, mainly necessary in themanufacture (the rolling) of the coating or covering in order to givethe necessary coherence to the covering substance in passing through therollers, as the mass or substance alone would not be capable of beingrolled Without such a foundation fabric. As the rollers exert a strongdrag on the material rolled, it has hitherto been necessary to employ asuitably strong foundation material capable of withstanding this strain.A much lighter foundation fabric is, however, sufficient for holding upthe finished product than is previously necessary for the rollingprocess; and the object of the present invention is to employ only sucha light foundation fabric and to dispense with the previous largeconsumption of thick expensive foundation fabrics.

By the presentinvention in addition to the light foundation fabric asecond stronger material is passed, with the substance, through therollers, and this material absorbs the pull exerted by thepolishing-rollers, which run somewhat faster than the preliminarypressing-rollers, and therefore pull strongly, while the lighterfoundation fabric runs over a flexibly-mounted guide-roller and betweenthe preliminary pressing-rollers and the polishing-rollers, so that itcannot be dragged by the polishing-rollers, and has to sustain no strainduring the rolling. The strong assistant material which receives thestrain is again separated from the finished linoleum after it leaves therolling device, and thus no consumption of the same takes place; but itis merely an assistant material which may be used time after time. Theuse of this material running simultaneously through the rolls alsorenders it possible to make in a very simple and cheap manner a linoleumor floor-covering the under side of which has any desired roughness.This has only hitherto been attained by means of suitably ribbed orroughened rollers and the employment of a suitably rough or wide-meshedmaterial to runsim'ultaneously through the roll- (are, the inequalitiesof which are impressed during the rolling process into the underside ofthe covering or linoleum, and when the fabric which has passed throughthe rollers simultaneously with the linoleum is subsequently removedthese inequalities leave roughnesses, corrugations, or the like in thelinoleum.

The accompanying drawings are illustrative of forms of apparatus thatmay be employed in carrying out the process.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the coveringsubstance with its foundationfabric passed over an elevated guide-rollerwith the foundation fabric lying next to the material constituting theassistant fabric. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the coveringsubstance lying next to the assistant fabric or material. Fig. 3 is aview similar to Fig. 2, showing the arrangement of theflexibly-supported guide-roller inverted-that is, below the plane of thepressing and polishing rollers.

In the accompanying drawings apparatus is shown diagrammatically bywhich this process may be carried out.

a a, Fig. 1, are the preliminarypressingrollers, and b b thepolishing-rollers, which run somewhat quicker than the former.

a is the light foundation fabric employed in the process, and d is thestrong assistant material, which runs simultaneously through therollers. This assistant material (1 runs in a straight line from onepair of rollers to the other and absorbs the strong pull which thepolishing-rollers b exert on the material to be rolled. The lightfoundation fabric a, on the other hand, with the coacting substance,which has been preliminarily impressed thereon, after passing throughthe preliminary pressing-rollers a, runs over the guide-roller f,flexibly mounted by means of springs or other suitable means, and fromthis again to the polishing-rollers b inorder' ing thepolishing-rollersb Ifforthis' assist ant substance d there be employed,as already mentioned, a suitably rough or wide meshed fabric, theseinequalitiesinpassing through the r'ollers'are pressed into the'll'l lder side of the linoleum or covering and then a material is obtainedhaving a suitably roughened, ribbed, or the like under side.

The s'eparate'threads of" thefoun'dation fab' ric a are'th'u's' pressedinto the coverings-nu:

stance" by the inequalities of the assistant material d, so thatthey-then lieembed'd'ed in" the substance of the finishedlinolen'm; The

threads are thus protected againstoutside' in fluenc'es and in spiteoftheir inh'erentstrength are further strengthened by thisembedding in themass. By the impressingo'f'the'fonn dation fabric into the mass 'thefa'bri'c' and the mass are made to adhere very strongly together, aproperty by which this improved floor-covering is favorablycharacterizedin contrast to the" products hitherto m'ade, in'

which the foundation fabrics onlylie flaton the covering substance. If,however, the linoleum is to have an ordinary'smooth under side, it maybe rolled ina reverse position, the light foundationfa'bricc, as shownin Fig. 2, being not directly passed through-the rollers over theassistant material (1 withthecovering substance lying'thereon; but thecovering substance is scattered on the as= arou-nd'be'tw'eenth'epressing rollersi sistan't or" subsidiary fabric maybe of any sistantmaterial d, and over this the light foundation fabric 0 is placed, andthen the 'whole'is conveyed through the rollers.

A very smooth fine assistant fabric (1 is in that case employed, whichvis easier released from the finished material after leaving therolling'apparatiisl'and leaves a perfectly-smooth surface on'thelinoleum which then forms the upper surface of the finished product.

The assistant fabric (1 may also be allowed to run through the rollersover the covering substance, thelatter being thus allowed to rest on thelight foundation fabric, and the assist'a'nt fabric fedoverthis, asshown in Fig. 3; The flexibly-mounted guide-roller f is then arrangedbeneath the roller-track in- ;stead of abo-ye it. The assistant fabric dis preferably formed as an'endless band running-over rollers, so thatitconstantly'passes The as suitable materialsne'h, for instance, aswirenettin'g, sheet metal, or 'th'e like. I

Having now desc'ribedniy invention, what Iclaimasn'ew, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent; is;-

A process' for making alinoleum product which consists in passing thecovering substance simultaneously with two separate fabrics insheet'form between separate pressing and polishing rollers operating atdifferent relative speeds, one of said fabrics having thecoveringsnbstance preliminarily pressed thereon, and the other fabricbeing a stronger assistant fabric which is arranged to absorb thepull'of the polishing-rollers, and finally separating the strongerassistant fabric from the finished product.

I-n-witness whereof I'have hereunto set my hand in'presence of twowitnesses.

LUDWIG- WILHELM SEESER. Witnesses:

IL BRYCE, O. DIEDERICH;

